Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, ranked 7th on the 2019 Best Performing Cities China list released by Milken Institute on Oct 23, which is the fourth time that Guiyang has made the list.

The list was determined according to the employment rate, salary level, GDP, and foreign direct investment of China's 264 first, second, and third tier cities.

In recent years, Guiyang has seen rapid growth in its economic development and comprehensive strength. In 2017, Guiyang's GDP exceeded 353.8 billion yuan ($50.33 billion), which is over 300 times that of its 1978 total. In 2018, Guiyang's economic growth rate ranked first among all the provincial capitals for the sixth consecutive year.

Guiyang's growth has been propelled by its digital industry, which is represented by its industrial parks involving big data security, digital logistics, and medical treatment. Led by big data, Guiyang has been exploring the upgrading of government affairs, livelihood services, social governance, and rural revitalization.

To date, Guiyang has realized a 100 percent rate in sharing and exchanges of government data. In addition, the business income of big data companies in Guiyang reached 100 billion yuan in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 22.4 percent.

Currently, Guiyang has been actively taking part in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor to create a better business environment for foreign investment.